UAE senior official supports investigation of "massacre" in Sudan

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash is seen during preparatory meeting for the GCC, Arab and Islamic summits in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, May 29, 2019. REUTERS/Waleed Ali

BRATISLAVA (Reuters) - The United Arab Emirates is concerned about the “massacre” in Sudan and supports calls for an investigation, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash said on Friday.

Sudan’s new military leaders have been under pressure after the worst violence since Omar al-Bashir’s fall in April.

“We are concerned about the massacre we’ve seen. We support calls for proper investigation,” Gargash said at the Globsec security and policy conference.

“We think it has complicated issues. We recognise that after 30 years of Bashir’s rule you won’t have a unified opposition, the only way forward is really a dialogue,” he said.

The opposition says 113 people were killed in the storming of a civilian protest camp on Monday and a subsequent wider crackdown. The government put the toll at 61 people, including three security personnel.

Reporting by Tatiana Jancarikova, Writing by Robert Muller, Editing by Catherine Evans, William Maclean